Fiona Apple: ‘I was upset with heckler who insisted I get healthy’

Fiona Apple performs at the Newmark Theater on October 3, 2013 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Natalie Behring/Getty Images)

Singer/songwriter Fiona Apple has broken her silence after ejecting a concerned heckler from a show in Oregon last week.

The star halted her show at Portland’s Newmark Theatre on Thursday night after a fan urged her to “get healthy” during a song, saying “Fiona, get healthy! We want to see you in 10 years I saw you 20 years ago and you were beautiful.”

Visibly shaken by the remark, Apple responded by asking, “Who the f— do you think you are?” before demanding venue bosses turn on the lights, yelling, “I want you to get the f— out of here. I want the house lights on so I watch you leave!”

Apple collected herself to perform an awkward “Waltz (Better Than Fine)” before leaving the stage, and now she has addressed the drama in an interview with Pitchfork.com.

Fiona Apple performs at the Newmark Theater on October 3, 2013 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Natalie Behring/Getty Images)

She says, “If anyone gets in my way, I’m going to get them out of my way.

“She hurt my feelings. I don’t think what I look like is relevant. And, by the way, this whole ‘unhealthy’ thing has me baffled. It’s really confusing to me why anyone would have an opinion about that. And that (the heckling) just takes you out of (the moment).

“People around me try to tell me that’s not going to happen, but it always happens. It’s really disappointing.”

She adds, “At this point, emotionally, it doesn’t get easier to hear those criticisms – but it gets easier to be resolute about my reaction to it, which is just, ‘Go ahead and call me ugly, call me skinny, call me crazy and speculate as much as you want, but not at a show.’ I don’t think that there’s anything meltdown-y about that. I don’t have any problem getting angry at someone who insults me in the middle of a show.”